Swimmer Sajan Prakash ready to take bigger strides after ‘breakthrough’ moment-Sports News , Firstpost

Sajan Prakash of India swims in a heat during the men’s 200-meter butterfly at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 26, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Tokyo Olympics were a mixed bag for the Indian athletes. While the contingent returned with their highest medal count, including a historic first gold medal in track & field, there were some who didn’t have much to write home about. In build-up to the Games, there was a positive buzz associated with Indian swimming team comprising of Sajan Prakash, Srihari Nataraj and Maana Patel. Disappointment, however, was in store as none of them qualified for the semi-finals in their respective events.

In a sport like swimming, especially in a country like India, even little milestones can prove to be stepping stone for future and the historic feat of achieving a first-ever ‘A’ qualification time to directly qualify for the Games, which both Prakash and Nataraj achieved in the build-up to last year’s pandemic-delayed Games, deserves more than a mention.

Prakash, who competed both in the men’s 100m butterfly and 200m butterfly events, described the feat of achieving the ‘A’ qualifying time as a “breakthrough” moment for Indian swimming.

“See at any level, at any profession, there should be a breakthrough. And this was in our Indians’ heads for so long, achieving the A qualifying time. We were only doing the B qualifying. So now we’ve opened the gate for many other people, and it’s a huge step itself,” Prakash told Firstpost at the sidelines of the launch of the Longines HydroConquest XXII Commonwealth Games Watch in New Delhi, with Swiss watchmaker Longines serving as the Official Partner & Timekeeper of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

“And I think every step, from the old, ex-swimmers… for example in 1,500 metre freestyle, Mandar Desai was the first Indian to break the 16-minute barrier.

“And then many of the youngsters believed that they could do… now the national record is 15 minutes and 25 seconds. So once you break the barrier in the head, you’ll see the huge difference and everything needs to be appreciated,” added Prakash.

Prakash made history by becoming the first Indian to breach the Games ‘A’ standard time, achieving the feat at the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome in 2021. Nataraj followed him soon after, achieving the ‘A’ qualifying time at the same event.

No dearth of talent

The achievement might be a sign of the progress Indian swimmers have made in recent years, and Prakash certainly feels there’s no dearth of talent in a country of a billion-plus. However, there still is work to be done as far as providing the right facilities for both rookie and elite swimmers is concerned.

“There are no doubts about talents. There are many more infrastructures built right now. The thing is only the elite level can, if they want to perform at the highest stage of the elite level in international swimming, they need to have a support system where we need to work on small, small things, on minute differences, biomechanics.

“Be it on the recovery side, physios, doctors working together scientifically because swimming itself in the water, it becomes more scientific. So, scientific support is what is needed on a day-to-day basis. So that makes a huge difference in swimming,” added Prakash.

Packed calendar ahead

The Kerala native, meanwhile, faces a packed calendar ahead of him with the FINA World Aquatics Championships, the Commonwealth Games as well as the Asian Games taking place one after the other.

To make up for the disappointment in Tokyo, Prakash and the other Indian swimmers will be hoping for podium finishes in these events, but the lack of preparation time between these events will be something of a challenge for them, especially since elite-level swimmers need to peak at the right time to produce their best performance and need a cool-down period thereafter.

“That too it’s not in a gap of two-three months. It’s one month each. We have a gap of a month and then we go race again, race again. So we need to really sit and choose where we need to peak, which is important for us. So I think Commonwealth and Asians were kept separately where we want to peak there,” Prakash said.

He did get off to a strong start in the season with a 200m butterfly gold medal at the Danish Open in Copenhagen last month, and Prakash certainly feels the gold is a sign of his preparations for the big events are on the right track at the moment.

“It’s the first meet of the year and it’s a preparation meet for going for the Commonwealth Games. I believe we are on the right track going with a load. At the end of the day, we taper and then we cut down the distance and build more quality. I think Commonwealth Games 1:56 or 1:55 in my event will be on the podium.

“So I believe in that truly. I hope and wish everything goes on track as per the plan,” said Prakash, who currently trains at the Aqua Nation Sports Academy in Dubai under the tutelage of coach Pradeep Kumar, who has been his mentor since 2011.

The Danish Open also saw one Vedaant Madhavan, son of actor R Madhavan, clinch India’s only other medal in the event — a silver in 1,500m freestyle.

“He’s a very talented, upcoming swimmer. Just won the Danish Open. He had a huge improvement on his swims and he can progress much more in the future,” concluded Prakash.

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